March 23, 2005

Fehr - Expose Steroid Users

Donald Fehr, head of baseball's players union says that exposing steroid users is the key to stopping use of the drugs:

"The biggest deterrent is exposure. Once that happens, that costs all kinds of things in the job," Fehr said after meeting with Baltimore Orioles players Tuesday. "There's the reputation issue, there's the question everybody's going to look as to whether or not any statistics that individual put up are legitimate or not -- and that can affect future contract negotiations."

While Fehr is probably right about the need to expose steroid users as a way to clean up use of illegal performance enhancers, it's too bad he has to rely only on an argument that emphasizes the financial "costs" to his union members. He might mention little issues like the integrity of the game, the long-term physical health of the players he represents, responsibilities to fans and owners, etc.